Up to 20 former staff made to sign contracts to stop them whistleblowing
They thought they could not give evidence to inquiry because of clauses
BBC insists no one is barred from giving evidence, despite agreements
Countryfile’s Miriam O’Reilly said use of gagging clauses is ‘insidious’

By Sam Greenhill and Paul Revoir

2 March 2013
The BBC was accused of ‘corporate bullying’ last night after spending licence-payers’ cash to buy the silence of up to 20 alleged harassment victims.

The gagging orders threaten to make a mockery of an inquiry set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal to uncover the depths of sexual harassment at the corporation.

Up to 20 former staff – all of whom claim to have been victims of bullying or sexual harassment – believed they had effectively been banned from giving evidence to the internal review.

Each had been paid off and made to sign contracts to stop them turning whistleblower.

The absurd situation could mean licence-payers funding an expensive inquiry on the one hand, only for potential witnesses to think they cannot give evidence.

The inquiry, overseen by human rights lawyer Dinah Rose QC, is expected to report next month.

In another twist, a lawyer last night claimed a further ‘two dozen’ BBC women – some of them famous names – have come forward in the past week complaining of sexual discrimination, bullying or harassment.

Ann Olivarius, said there was ‘a culture full of male bias at the BBC’. Following a talk she gave to 150 women in the arts, two dozen ‘talked about sexual discrimination and about bullying and inappropriate sexual advances’….

The BBC insists no one has been barred from giving evidence, despite any previous agreements which may have been signed….

Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Satanic Thrill Kill March 4, 2013
Hayward, WI (NNCNOW.com) — A Wisconsin man will spend the rest of his life in prison for his part in a brutal murder in 2009.

30-year-old Christopher Roalson was shown no mercy for what authorities dubbed a “thrill kill” with satanic overtones. A jury found Roalson guilty of stabbing 93-year-old Irena Roszak to death over three year ago in Raddison, Wisconsin. Just minutes to his sentencing on Monday, he still denies taking part in the murder, blaming Austin Davis for the murder. “I’m very sorry about what happened to Ms. Roszak and I know that she didn’t deserve that but that was not the intent that night. Our intent was only to go out and commit a burglary,” said Roalson at his sentencing hearing. Burnett County Judge Kenneth Kutz didn’t buy Roalson’s plead for leniency.